Recaps

Robbie explained that the undead had exceptional magical potential but lacked the education to use it, and proposed linking their minds to teach a hidden force of Scourge soldiers. The plan left Robbie, Arthas, and Kel'Thuzad needing to buy a month before the Scourge attacked.

• Robbie explained that undead relied on the power of death and had magical aptitude comparable to elemental beings, which Kel'Thuzad recognized.
• Arthas and Kel'Thuzad realized the Scourge’s soldiers could become mages, but most lacked the knowledge to understand magic.
• Robbie proposed using Old Gods Transformation to link undead minds and impart magical knowledge in a month.
• Robbie recommended secretly training fifty thousand talented human Scourge soldiers and keeping them out of the coming war.
• Kel'Thuzad refused to join the training plan because his growing strength would attract attention, and Robbie warned that they needed to buy time.

Robbie urged Arthas and Kel'Thuzad to spread a rumor that the Orcs intended to seize the World Tree, hoping to delay their advance for a month. Meanwhile, Alexandros Mograine sought help from King Magni Bronzebeard, who refused to send troops but enticed Mograine to stay in Ironforge with talk of dancers.

• Robbie told Arthas and Kel'Thuzad to spread rumors that the Orcs wanted the power of the World Tree so others would hinder their advance.
• Sylvanas destroyed Mograine's base and supplies, forcing him to scatter his troops and seek help in Ironforge.
• Mograine offered Magni the Rizebu Crystal in exchange for food, weapons, armor, and Dwarven troops to fight the Scourge.
• Magni claimed Ironforge could not send troops because of poor harvests and plague, though he coveted the crystal.
• Magni invited Mograine to a welcome feast and mentioned Stormwind City's sexy dancers, prompting Mograine to agree to stay for one night.

Magni Bronzebeard secretly replaced Mograine’s Rizebu Crystal with a cursed copy, then kept him in Ironforge until Ashbringer was forged. When news arrived that Dalaran had fallen, Mograine questioned Magni’s call to fight the Burning Legion and insisted their target was the Scourge.

• Magni Bronzebeard secretly used the Copying Balance to switch Mograine’s Rizebu Crystal with a cursed copy while Mograine slept.
• Magni kept Mograine in Ironforge with feasts and dancers, then persuaded him to help oppose the Scourge by forging a weapon stronger than Frostmourne.
• Magni and Ironforge’s craftsmen forged Ashbringer while Paladins and Priests infused the crystal with Holy Light.
• Mograine accepted Ashbringer and vowed to protect Azeroth and face any enemy.
• A Dwarven scout reported that Antonidas had summoned Archimonde, the Scourge had invaded, and Dalaran had fallen.
• Magni urged Mograine to go to Dalaran and join Thrall against the Burning Legion, but Mograine said their target should be the Scourge.

Magni regretted forging Ashbringer and acted on a rumor that Thrall planned to seize the World Trees, while Varimathras set out to manipulate Fisla and spark a war around the Echo Isles. The chapter ended with Varimathras offering Fisla a chance to become stronger.

• After Mograine left Ironforge with Ashbringer, Magni learned that Thrall would lead the Orcs to Kalimdor, and the news briefly eased Ironforge’s fears.
• A rumor spread that Thrall intended to take the World Trees’ power and ally with the Darkspear Trolls and Tauren, prompting Magni to use the Dream-Making Hammer on Fisla’s image in the Orrery of Azeroth.
• Varimathras sailed to the Echo Isles, planning to control Fisla and provoke conflict among the Murlocs, Darkspear Trolls, and Kul Tiras.
• Varimathras captured the Murlocs in a village and summoned an apparition of Fisla, who recognized him as a Dreadlord and asked why he had imprisoned his people.
• Varimathras realized someone had warned Fisla and tried to entice him by offering him a chance to become stronger.

Varimathras failed to tempt or threaten Feisila into joining the Burning Legion, and Feisila unleashed a massive wave against the Legion’s forces. Archimonde grew suspicious that someone was guiding Feisila, while Varimathras planned to seek out more persuadable targets.

• Varimathras offered Feisila Fel power in exchange for serving the Burning Legion, but Feisila refused and accused the Legion’s allies of eating other peoples.
• Varimathras threatened Feisila, who defied him and claimed that his will would endure even if the world perished.
• Varimathras sensed danger and flew away as Feisila sent a mountain-sized wave crashing through the Burning Legion’s soldiers while the captured Murlocs protected themselves with water bubble magic.
• Varimathras reported Feisila’s resistance to Archimonde, who suspected Queen Azshara might be behind it and chose not to act rashly.
• Varimathras decided to seek clever people, whom he believed would be easier to tempt and deceive.

Varimathras infiltrated the Darkspear Tribe as Heijin while Robbie arrived on the Echo Isles to plant traces of Highborne magic and disrupt the Burning Legion’s plans. Robbie learned that the island marked as taboo was Vol'jin’s exile, and that Vol'jin was rumored to be the son of a Zandalari Troll.

• Varimathras killed Heijin, absorbed his memories, and entered the Darkspear village disguised as Sen'jin’s illegitimate son.
• Robbie linked the minds of fifty thousand Scourge soldiers and gave them magical knowledge from Queen Azshara’s era before setting out for the Echo Isles.
• Robbie traded goods for herbs and bribed the village chief to learn about dangerous creatures near the Echo Isles.
• The village chief warned Robbie away from a nearby island where Vol'jin had been exiled by Sen'jin.
• The village chief claimed Vol'jin was not Sen'jin’s son and said his father had been a Zandalari Troll.

Robbie heard the tale of Vol'jin's ominous birth and learned that Bwonsamdi had protected him, while Sen'jin exiled him with his mother to a remote island. Suspecting Vol'jin's parentage and Sen'jin's motives, Robbie decided to contact Vol'jin secretly after completing his own mission.

• Robbie gave the old village chief tea ware and asked him to recount Vol'jin's story.
• The old village chief described how a blood-red moon and resurrected corpses appeared at Vol'jin's birth, and how a vision of the Darkspear Lady stopped a Witch Doctor from killing his mother.
• The old village chief said Chief Sen'jin spared Vol'jin and his mother but exiled them to an island, where Vol'jin survived after his mother died.
• The old village chief recounted tales of the island's dangers and said Vol'jin sometimes visited the Echo Isles, calling himself Sen'jin's son.
• Robbie suspected that Vol'jin's father and Sen'jin's motives were tied to his survival, and decided to contact Vol'jin in secret.
• Robbie chose a Deep Sea Giant from the crude map as the target for his secret mission.

A mysterious figure’s effortless defeat of a Deep Sea Giant led Varimathras and Archimonde to suspect Queen Azshara had returned to Azeroth. Archimonde then examined Varimathras’s plan to manipulate Sen'jin with a dream and pointed out that Sen'jin would consult his priests and subordinates.

• Robbie’s adventurers struggled against the Deep Sea Giant while the old Troll village chief prepared to exploit their defeat.
• A hooded figure shattered the Deep Sea Giant with one palm, and the old village chief spread rumors that a powerful Troll expert protected his village.
• Varimathras examined the giant’s corpse, detected fused Shadow, Arcane, and Fel energy, and reported the discovery to Archimonde.
• Archimonde concluded that Queen Azshara had returned and asked Varimathras about his plans for the Darkspear Horde.
• Varimathras proposed planting a dream in Sen'jin promising an Orc alliance, victory over the humans and Murlocs, and eternal life.
• Archimonde warned that Sen'jin would seek advice about the dream and asked how many sons he had.

Archimonde ordered Varimathras to use a dream to influence Sen'jin’s heirs, but Varimathras’s nightmare vision failed to deceive Sen'jin. Sen'jin summoned his people and heirs to share the dream and ask what they should do.

• Archimonde told Varimathras to support whichever of Sen'jin’s four legitimate sons or seven powerful illegitimate sons believed the dream Varimathras devised.
• Varimathras infiltrated the palace as Heijin and used drugs and magic to give Sen'jin a vision of the Darkspear Tribe’s destruction and Thrall offering him an alliance.
• Sen'jin recognized Thrall’s promises as a performance, and Varimathras realized that Sen'jin had already received a revelation.
• Sen'jin summoned the palace’s people, officials, nobles, and heirs, then recounted the dream and invited them to speak freely.

Sen'jin rejected an alliance with the Orcs by executing Prince Ming, thwarting Varimathras's efforts to influence the Darkspear Trolls. Meanwhile, Robbie approached Vol'jin's island and heard the mysterious being tell Vol'jin that his chance had come.

• Prince Ming interpreted Sen'jin's dream as a warning to join forces with the Orcs, but Sen'jin accused him of coveting the chieftain's position.
• Sen'jin ordered Prince Ming boiled alive and warned the assembled Trolls that anyone advocating cooperation with the Orcs would share his fate.
• Varimathras realized Sen'jin had blocked his plans, left the palace, and tried unsuccessfully to infiltrate the Murlocs before wandering the Echo Isles.
• Robbie left his ship and used magic to approach Vol'jin's island in secret.
• Vol'jin challenged the mysterious being about its changing stories of his father, and it admitted to lying before declaring that Vol'jin's chance had come.

Vol'jin listened as the mysterious voice urged him to use his hatred and the upheaval caused by the Orc invasion to seize leadership of the Darkspear Trolls. The voice revealed that Sen'jin's ancestor had betrayed Bwonsamdi and allied with the Murlocs to take power, leaving Vol'jin reconsidering the Darkspear's history.

• Vol'jin admitted that he hated his people, and the mysterious voice called his ill omen and isolation advantages that could help him become king.
• The voice argued that the Orc invasion offered Vol'jin a chance to help the Orcs defeat the Darkspear Trolls and replace Sen'jin as chieftain.
• Vol'jin rejected the idea of betraying his people and said he would rather earn leadership by helping them defeat the Orcs.
• The voice warned that Sen'jin might brand Vol'jin a traitor even if he fought for the Darkspear, and claimed that traitors often became celebrated leaders.
• The voice revealed that Sen'jin's ancestor had secretly colluded with the Murloc lord Fisla, banished Bwonsamdi with a dark scroll, and then become chieftain.
• Vol'jin condemned the ancestor's betrayal but said that making peace with the Murlocs could still be the right choice for a chieftain.

Bwonsamdi persuaded Vol'jin to challenge Sen'jin and seek power, while Robbie secretly discovered Bwonsamdi's involvement and watched Vol'jin spread his message. The chapter ended with Sen'jin and an old priest discussing the Orcs and the Burning Legion.

• Bwonsamdi told Vol'jin that the Darkspear chieftains had secured their power through betrayal and urged him to oppose Sen'jin and build support for cooperating with the Orcs.
• Bwonsamdi revealed that his price for helping Vol'jin was to marry Vol'jin's future daughter, and Vol'jin accepted the bargain.
• Bwonsamdi urged Vol'jin to look beyond the Echo Isles and set his sights on Kalimdor and Azeroth.
• Robbie arrived on the island, recognized Bwonsamdi's deathly presence, and saw Vol'jin directing resurrected Murlocs to carve messages criticizing Sen'jin and supporting an alliance with the Orcs.
• Robbie found Bwonsamdi watching Vol'jin from the island's highest point, while Bwonsamdi remained unaware of Robbie.
• Sen'jin and an old priest privately discussed whether defeating the Orcs would leave the Darkspear Trolls able to face the Burning Legion.

Sen'jin prepared the Darkspear Tribe to fight the Orcs while refusing Vol'jin's call to unite with them. Varimathras found Vol'jin in exile and offered to build support for him, asking for a letter in Vol'jin's hand.

• Sen'jin told the high priest that he intended to replace the Orcs as the Burning Legion's servants and ordered him to monitor Feralas and the Murlocs.
• Sen'jin dismissed the high priest's proposal to eliminate Vol'jin and ordered the Darkspear to seek Murloc and Kul Tiras support against the Orcs.
• Rumors spread through the Darkspear Tribe about Vol'jin's origins as Sen'jin ignored his opposition.
• Varimathras, disguised as Heijin, traveled to Vol'jin's island and found him with a handful of followers.
• Varimathras pledged loyalty to Vol'jin and offered to gather support, then asked Vol'jin to write him a letter.

Varimathras manipulated Vol'jin into claiming Zandalari noble ancestry and used the claim to win the Kukan Family's support. Vol'jin planned to frame Sen'jin for Tide Lord Feralas's death, while Bwonsamdi offered a way to exploit Feralas's fear of strong liquor.

• At Varimathras's urging, Vol'jin wrote a letter claiming he was the son and heir of a Zandalari noble, and Varimathras took it to recruit supporters.
• Bwonsamdi warned Vol'jin that his ally was a dangerous, powerful fish, while Robbie watched through the Eye of C'Thun and recognized Varimathras's disguise.
• After Sen'jin executed Mingwang, Varimathras used Vol'jin's letter to persuade the embattled Kukan Family to support Vol'jin, giving him the backing of three thousand members.
• Varimathras proposed secretly killing Tide Lord Feralas and blaming Sen'jin, and Vol'jin agreed to use the plot to turn the Murlocs against the chief.
• Vol'jin said he would hand Sen'jin's family over to the Murlocs, and Bwonsamdi suggested using strong liquor against Feralas and named Chen Stormstout as a brewer visiting the Echo Isles.

Rokhan deceived Chen Stormstout into bringing hundreds of Pandaren scholars to the Darkspear Tribe, claiming they would civilize the Trolls. After using the Pandaren to gain wealth and status, Rokhan threatened Chen with disgrace unless he helped provide more Pandaren for Chieftain Sen'jin, and Chen reluctantly gave in.

• Vol'jin said he could handle Chen Stormstout, who had earned a fearsome reputation among the Darkspear Tribe.
• Rokhan befriended Chen by pretending to be a noble's son and claiming he wanted to reform the Trolls through education.
• Chen returned to Pandaria and gathered hundreds of scholars and apprentices to teach the Darkspear Tribe.
• Rokhan kept Chen occupied while the Pandaren entered the Trolls' palace, then returned days later as a wealthy, powerful noble.
• Rokhan revealed that he had exploited the Pandaren and threatened to blame Chen for their deaths, leaving Chen unable to act for fear of ruining his reputation.
• Rokhan urged Chen to bring more Pandaren, including young cubs, to satisfy Sen'jin's appetite, and Chen helplessly agreed.

Vol'jin secretly approached Rokhan and tried to win his support by warning that Chief Sen'jin's reliance on Pandaren cubs had made Rokhan's position fragile. Rokhan accepted that Vol'jin had a Loa's backing but remained unconvinced by his plan to replace Sen'jin as Vol'jin began arguing that the Trolls would lose against the Orcs.

• Rokhan secretly met Vol'jin and warned that he could hand him over to Chief Sen'jin.
• Vol'jin explained that Sen'jin would punish Rokhan for capturing him, then pointed out that the dwindling supply of Pandaren cubs threatened Rokhan's power.
• Rokhan feared losing his position but hesitated to betray Sen'jin, so Vol'jin promised him lasting honor if he and his family pledged loyalty.
• Vol'jin invoked his Loa's support and proposed cooperating with the Orcs and pledging loyalty to the Burning Legion.
• Rokhan revealed that Sen'jin had already sent a trusted messenger to pledge loyalty to Archimonde, while Vol'jin condemned Sen'jin's plan to defeat the Orcs and join the Legion.
• Vol'jin questioned Rokhan about the Trolls' chances against the Orcs and compared their strength with that of the Kingdom of Stormwind and Lordaeron.

Vol'jin persuaded Rokhan that the Darkspear Trolls should turn to the Orcs, then arranged to use Chen Stormstout's Brew Spirit Creatures to kill Tide Lord Feralas and frame Chief Sen'jin. Robbie watched the conspiracy unfold and considered whether Feralas's presence could offer a chance to disrupt the Orcs' growing power as the Burning Legion pressed the Scourge.

• Rokhan and Vol'jin discussed the Orcs' past victories and concluded that the Dragonkin's support made the Darkspear Trolls' chances of defeating them hopeless.
• Vol'jin convinced Rokhan that joining the Orcs was a temporary compromise and that they could later replace the Dragonkin as the Orcs' allies.
• Rokhan warned that he could not use his palace guards against Chief Sen'jin, so Vol'jin proposed killing Tide Lord Feralas and framing Sen'jin to force the tribe toward the Orcs.
• Vol'jin outlined his plan to use Chen Stormstout's brewing, and Rokhan agreed to help before Sen'jin's meeting with Feralas in three days.
• Chen Stormstout began brewing with the Trolls, using a rushed process that risked creating violent Brew Spirit Creatures.
• Robbie secretly observed Vol'jin and Rokhan, judged their plan could strengthen the Orcs, and considered Tide Lord Feralas a possible opportunity as the Burning Legion attacked the Scourge.

Robbie warned Feralas about a plot against him and revealed a Legion Eye monitoring Shipwreck Isle. Varimathras passed the news of a supposed ancient Azerothian master to Archimonde, who suspected Queen Azshara had returned and ordered the Legion to stop probing the Scourge.

• Robbie used an illusion to awaken Feralas and showed him the Legion Eye hidden above him.
• Feralas destroyed the Legion Eye and offered Robbie his loyalty, but Robbie warned him about the Darkspear Tribe's plans at Tidal Bay.
• After Robbie left, Feralas signaled the grand elder, who contacted Varimathras through a Legion Communicator.
• Varimathras told the grand elder that Vol'jin and a Pandaren planned to use a brew spirit against Feralas, then reported Robbie's appearance to Archimonde.
• Archimonde concluded that Queen Azshara had returned and ordered the Legion to halt its probing of the Scourge.

Rokhan helped Vol'jin's plan to drive Feralas, the Tide Lord, mad with a powerful Alemental during the Darkspear sacrifice. With their patron gone, Sen'jin declared war on the Murlocs, leaving the Darkspear Tribe dependent on the Orcs for help.

• Rokhan oversaw the preparations for the sacrifice and searched the young priest Vol'jin had sent, finding nothing suspicious.
• Sen'jin and the high priest began the ritual, and Feralas appeared in the mist and accepted the living offerings.
• The young priest released a potent Alemental at Feralas, then exploded to prevent interrogation, and the Tide Lord fled into the sea in a rage.
• Sen'jin ordered the Murloc nobles killed and declared war between the Darkspear Tribe and the Murlocs.
• Rokhan led the guards in slaughtering the Murloc nobles, as Vol'jin's plan succeeded and the Darkspear Tribe was left to seek Orcish aid.

Thrall prepared the Orc fleet to sail for the Echo Isles and discussed his plans to conquer Kalimdor with Saurfang. He revealed the Dragonblood Orcs, who defeated Saurfang and left him unable to move.

• Thrall surveyed the fleet at Southshore and learned that Vol'jin's scheme had helped secure Chief Sen'jin's surrender.
• Thrall and Saurfang discussed using the Darkspear Tribe as rations and renaming Kalimdor after Thrall once the Orcs conquered it.
• Thrall told Saurfang that he would remain behind to command laborers for the Burning Legion while Thrall led better soldiers.
• Thrall introduced the Dragonblood Orcs and challenged Saurfang to test one of them.
• Saurfang attacked the Dragonblood Orc, but his axe only marked its scales, and the Orc knocked him down with one punch.
• Thrall mocked the injured Saurfang and declared that leading laborers suited him.

Archimonde revealed that the Dragonblood Orcs were unstable creations he planned to use as bait to expose a hidden mastermind. As Thrall's fleet reached the Echo Isles, Thrall remained unaware of the plot and demanded that Sen'jin send him his remaining sons to eat.

• Archimonde told Mannoroth that the Dragonblood Orcs would eventually lose their reason and become a horde of lunatics.
• Archimonde explained that he planned to sacrifice the Dragonblood Orcs to draw the hidden mastermind into the open.
• Thrall led the Dragonblood Orcs' fleet from Southshore toward the Echo Isles while enjoying the comforts of his flagship.
• Sen'jin sent another surrender letter and agreed to provide half his people as rations.
• Thrall complained about Troll meat and ordered Sen'jin to send his three remaining sons to him.
• As the fleet entered Tidal Bay, Thrall sensed that something was wrong while looking at the cliffs.

Thrall's fleet was devastated by Feralas's tidal ambush, but Jaina cleared the fog and Aegwynn pursued the Tide Lord. Thrall reached the Echo Isles only to find Sen'jin and the Darkspear Tribe gone, leaving him short on food and forced to consider his next move toward the Broken Isles.

• Thrall dismissed the risk of an ambush until Feralas engulfed Tidal Bay in fog and sent a massive wave and whirlpool against the fleet.
• Jaina cleared the fog while Aegwynn explained that the Dragonblood Orcs had to survive, then pursued Feralas after he fled into the sea.
• Thrall organized rescues and learned that roughly thirty thousand Dragonblood Orcs had been lost, along with armor, weapons, and most of their food.
• Thrall led the surviving Orcs to the Echo Isles and found the villages deserted, with Sen'jin and the Darkspear Tribe hiding across the islands.
• Thrall realized his dwindling rations left him facing a seasoned opponent and studied a map of the Broken Isles.

Thrall’s Dragonblood Orcs devastated Highmountain and returned to sea to hunt the Darkspear Tribe, while Sen'jin sought help from Kul Tiras. Robbie infiltrated Proudmoore Keep and confronted Daelin Proudmoore about his fear of the Red Dragon Queen, Alexstrasza.

• Thrall’s Dragonblood Orcs landed in Highmountain, killed four-fifths of the Tauren, and took their supplies and materials.
• Thrall sailed back toward the Echo Isles, determined to destroy the Darkspear Tribe, and Sen'jin secretly sent his high priest to seek help from Daelin Proudmoore.
• Robbie found Daelin’s refusal to aid the Darkspear strange and contacted Arthas before infiltrating Proudmoore Keep.
• Robbie revealed himself to Daelin in a secret chamber and asked whether fear of Alexstrasza was stopping him from taking revenge on the Orcs.

Robbie persuaded Daelin to fight the Dragonblood Orcs at sea, promising to deal with the Dragonkin, while Daelin agreed to trust him and wear a tracking necklace. Archimonde tested Thrall by ordering him to accept the Darkspear Trolls' surrender, but Thrall instead turned his attention toward Kul Tiras.

• Daelin admitted that Kul Tiras could not withstand the Dragonkin and said he had ordered the fleet scattered rather than let the Orcs take it.
• Robbie offered to interfere with the Dragonkin's flight magic if Daelin's fleet would fight the Dragonblood Orcs, and Daelin accepted his offer and put on the necklace.
• Archimonde learned that the Dragonblood Orcs had killed hundreds of thousands of Highmountain Tauren and ordered Thrall to accept the Darkspear Trolls' surrender.
• Thrall discussed Archimonde's order with Eitrigg, agreed to obey it, then asked about Kul Tiras.
• Eitrigg told Thrall that Kul Tiras was breaking up its fleet to flee, and Thrall ordered the Dragonblood Orcs to sail there and slaughter the humans.

Thrall's Dragonblood Orc fleet was ambushed by Daelin's Kul Tiran fleet and driven into a reef-ringed pocket where its ships ran aground. Vaelastrasz detected a powerful magical presence among the reefs and contacted the Red Dragon Queen as the Orcs faced destruction.

• Thrall ordered his fleet to signal a challenge for hand-to-hand combat, but Daelin opened fire on the Orc escort ships instead.
• Thrall raised a white flag as a ruse, but Daelin ordered his fleet to keep firing.
• Thrall tried to break through, but Daelin's experienced ships harried the Orcs and drove them toward hidden reefs.
• Vaelastrasz observed the battle and discovered the Orc fleet was trapped among reefs surrounding a narrow exit and a powerful magical presence.
• Vaelastrasz contacted the Red Dragon Queen to report that the Dragonblood Orcs were in desperate danger.